Kabul attack kills 5 U.S. troops, 13 others

KABUL, Afghanistan - A suicide bomber detonated his vehicle near a U.S. convoy Tuesday, killing 18 people, including six troops - five Americans and a Canadian - in the deadliest attack on NATO in the Afghan capital in eight months.

The Canadian, Col. Geoff Parker, 42, was the highest-ranking member of the Canadian Forces to die in Afghanistan since the Canadian mission began in 2002, the country's military said.

Twelve Afghan civilians also died - many of them on a public bus in rush-hour traffic along a major thoroughfare that runs by the ruins of a one-time royal palace and government ministries. At least 47 people were wounded, the Interior Ministry said.

The blast was the first major attack in the Afghan capital since February and followed a Taliban announcement of a spring offensive even as the U.S. gears up for a major push to restore order in the turbulent south.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the blast, telling the Associated Press in a telephone call that the bomber was a man from Kabul and that the vehicle was packed with 1,650 pounds of explosives.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai joined the U.S. and NATO in condemning the attack, which he said killed women and children.

The explosion, which thundered across the capital, happened about 8 a.m. as streets were packed with cars, buses and trucks. The bomb ripped apart vehicles and hurled body parts along the street. U.S. and Afghan forces blocked off the area as emergency workers loaded the wounded into ambulances.

"I saw one person lying on the ground with no head," said Mirza Mohammad, who was on his way to work when the blast took place. Police officer Wahidullah, who goes by one name, said he saw the body of a woman in a pale blue burqa smashed up against the window of the bus.

"Dead bodies were everywhere," Wahidullah said.

U.S. forces spokesman Col. Wayne Shanks said five American service members were killed. That brought the number of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan since the war began in 2001 to at least 992.

Separately, another service member was killed Tuesday in a bombing in the south, but the NATO statement did not give the nationality.

The Kabul attack was the heaviest loss of life for NATO in a single attack in the capital since Sept. 17, when a suicide car bomber killed six Italian soldiers.

Earlier this month, the Taliban announced a new offensive - "Operation Al-Fatah" or "Victory" - that would target NATO forces, foreign diplomats, contractors and Afghan government officials.

U.S., NATO and Afghan forces are gearing up for a major operation to secure Kandahar, the biggest city in the south and the former Taliban headquarters.